Mauritius is home to an open, multiparty system that has allowed for the regular handover of power between parties through elections. Civil liberties have historically been upheld, but political leadership is dominated by a few families, and ethnic divisions remain prominent in politics. Among other concerns, corruption persists, long-discussed electoral reforms have not been enacted, journalists report limitations on their work and occasional harassment, and the integration of women into the political system has been slow.

• In November parliamentary elections, the opposition Alliance for Change—led by the Labour Party and the Mauritian Militant Movement—secured an overwhelming victory, capturing 60 of the 62 directly elected seats. The Rodrigues People’s Organisation, based on the smaller island of Rodrigues, took the other two seats. Under the country’s “best loser” seat-allocation system, an alliance of Rodrigues-based parties received 2 additional seats, and 1 each was granted to the previously governing Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) and its ally the Mauritian Social Democratic Party. The MSM’s campaign had suffered in part from a scandal in which leaked audio recordings seemed to implicate politicians, public officials, and others in wrongdoing; the government attempted to ban social media in response, but it quickly reversed the unpopular move.
• The Labour Party’s Navin Ramgoolam took office as prime minister after the elections, having previously held the post from 1995 to 2000 and 2005 to 2014. The new parliament unanimously elected Dharam Gokhool to the country’s largely ceremonial presidency in December.
• Separately in December, Prime Minister Ramgoolam said the new government would revisit a tentative October agreement in which the United Kingdom (UK) pledged to cede sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius in exchange for a long-term lease on the UK’s military base on the island of Diego Garcia. The agreement also envisioned the return of Chagossians who had been displaced from the archipelago in the 1960s, along with their descendants, with the exception of Diego Garcia. The deal had drawn criticism from some quarters in both countries and in the United States, which uses the UK military base, and its future remained unclear at year’s end.

This report has been abridged for Freedom in the World 2025 due to ongoing budget constraints. Freedom in the World is entirely funded by nongovernmental sources such as private foundations, corporations, and individuals like you. Please consider making a donation to support future editions of this vital resource.

For additional background information, see last year’s full report.